Gain insights into Kotlin’s basics, including variable declarations, data types, conditions, loops, and functions. Discover how to write simple Kotlin scripts and transition to advanced programming.

Kotlin is quickly joining the ranks of the most popular programming languages. Now that Google supports Kotlin for Android app development as the primary choice over Java, we’ll only see more developers making the switch. So if you’re looking to get started with Android app development, then you’ve come to the right place.

This course will be your guide on getting started with Kotlin. We’ll go over all the language basics including variable declarations, data types and the type system to conditions, loops, and functions.

After this course, you’ll be able to write simple Kotlin scripts and applications. With this solid understanding of the language basics, you’ll be able to more easily follow more advanced material covering functional and object-oriented programming.

Homam B.

What a brilliant course, its not too long so its fairly easy to get through in a weekend. Goes through the fundimentals of Kotlin in just the right amount of detail. I would recommend this as a first step into Kotlin language

"Brilliant course"

Patricio M.

I have completed the course and I have to say that it's extremely well done

The examples used are clear and easy to follow

The code is very clean and the instructor strives to write clear and concise code and he explains concepts very clearly

Kudos for a job well done!

"Extremely well done"

Alan J.

Clear explanations, and well organized. Highly recommended.

"Highly recommended"

Raphael A.

Excellent course. It's a beginner course in programming, but even as a Java programmer I've been able to remember a lot of things and get productive quickly in Kotlin. The course is well structured and the teacher knows the subject (I bought another course from the teacher).

"Excellent course"

Kotlin Crash Course for Programmers

Type inference is a compiler feature that allows you to omit types in your code when the compiler can infer it for you.

# Type Inference in Kotlin

Kotlin's compiler can infer the types of most variables, so adding the type is optional:

// Run the code to see the variable's types
val string = "Educative"
val int = 27
val long = 42L
val double = 2.71828
val float = 1.23f
val bool = true

> **Note:** The terms on the left-hand side of the equals sign are just the variable names, not the data types.

## Type Inference for Literals

The compiler automatically infers that the `string` variable must have type `String` because it's assigned to the value `"Educative"`.

For integer values, the compiler infers `Int` by default. You can use the `L` suffix as in `42L` to transform the value into a `Long`. Similarly, the compiler infers `Double` for floating point numbers unless you add an `f` as suffix as in `1.23f`, in which case it is considered a `Float`. There's no such shortcut suffix for `Byte` or `Short` because these aren't used as often.

> If you run the code above, it will print the mapped Java type for each variable at runtime.
> 
>  (Kotlin reflection is currently not available on Educative so it prints the Java types. These are evaluated at runtime using `string.javaClass`, `int.javaClass`, and so forth.)

## Type Inference for Objects

Naturally, type inference doesn't only work with literal values on the right-hand side. The compiler can infer types of object just as easily:

Understand Kotlin's powerful type inference capabilities and how to use them to write more succinct code.

Hello Kotlin!

Variables and Data Types

Conditions

Collections

Loops

Functions

Equality Checks

Exception Handling

Summary

Kotlin's Type Inference

Type Inference in Kotlin #